∇
troperville

∇
tools

∇
toys

SubpagesCreator
Main
Trivia
YMMV

main index

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories

random

Subpages:

Creator: Elvira Mistress Of The Dark

"Unpleasant Dreams"

Perry: Elvira — Mistress of the Dark!
Jimmy: She's a little scary to me, boss.
Perry: Not to me, son. She's the reason I've seen Godzilla a hundred and sixteen times.

—Lois and Clark, "Fly Hard"

When you hear the name "Elvira" only one person comes to mind... quick witted valley-girl, Halloween icon, and quintessential symbol of all things spooky: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

Back in 1981, Elvira became the first nationally syndicated Horror Host, and emerged as one of the most original and outrageous characters in popular culture, with a large cult following. The movies featured on Elvira's Movie Macabre, her first show, were always B grade (or lower) and Elvira often enjoyed interrupting the movie to lampoon the actors, the script, and the bad editing.

Elvira's reign as "Queen of Halloween" has now spanned over thirty years and includes two feature films, an IMAX film and 2 motion control rides. She has appeared in national ad campaigns for Pepsi and Coors, recorded 5 music CDs, published 4 books and licensed over 400 products, including 2 Bally pinball machines, two video games, BC Rich guitars, 3 comic book series, Elvira�s Night Brew beer, Evil perfume and a slot machine from IGT. Elvira also boasts the best selling female costume of all time.

Mistress herself:

Absolute Cleavage
Annoying Laugh
Beehive Hairdo
Catchphrase: "Unpleasant dreams!"
Distracted by the Sexy: Especially the men in her movies.
Divine Date: Denies she worships the devil, but admits she dated him once.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
Femme Fatalons
Gag Boobs: The sassy lassy with the classy chassis.
Horror Host
Hot Witch
Ms. Fanservice
Perky Goth
She's Got Legs
Spiritual Successor: To Vampira, a Los Angeles-based horror host of The Fifties best remembered for appearing in Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Strange Girl
Valley Girl
Woman in Black

The films have the examples of:

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988)

Absolute Cleavage
Action Dress Rip: Happens off-screen.
Agony of the Feet
Alpha Bitch: Patty
Angry Mob: Subverted near the end.
An Axe to Grind
Barrier-Busting Blow
BFG
Bookcase Passage
Breaking the Fourth Wall
Breath Weapon
Bucket Booby Trap: Elvira gets this she pulls one rope on the bucket and causes tar and feathers to fall down on her during her Flashdance to the song "Maniac".
Burn the Witch!: Chastity Pariah's bunch (no thanks to Uncle Vincent) invoke this trope on Elvira.
Chekhov's Gun: Elvira's ring.
Combat Stilettos: Subverts the old trope about female victims running from slasher-movie villains, then tripping and falling (and then being killed) due to high heels... Elvira throws her stiletto heels as weapons.
Cool Car: Elvira's Macabremobile.
Dark Is Not Evil: Elvira is many things that may not correlate with goody-goody, but she's nowhere near a bad person... unlike the Gossipy Hens.
Daydream Surprise
Deadpan Snarker
Developing Doomed Characters: Not in the film itself, but commented on during the beginning with the B movie.
Diner Brawl
Distracted by the Sexy: every guy in town who sees Elvira!
Dramatic Drop
Dramatic Thunder
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
Erotic Eating: As Elvira heads to Falwell, guess where the hot dog lands when it slides out of the bun...
- The picnic potluck scene.
Even the Dog Is Ashamed
Evil Laugh
Fainting
Familiar: Algonquin the poodle (aka Gonk) is revealed to be one.
Gag Boobs
Give Her a Normal Life: In a flashback her mother is shown dropping the infant Elvira off at a convent to protect her from the convoluted magical politics in their family.
- Subverted: Elvira is many things, but normal? Not so much.
Green-Eyed Monster: Patty, who also suffers from A-Cup Angst.
Grievous Bottley Harm
Groin Attack: Elvira does this to a real estate broker who gets too grabby for his own good!
Helping Hands: the teens of Falwell who help the voluptuous vamp rebuild her house.
Henpecked Husband: the hotel manager.
Hypocritical Humor
Lingerie Scene
Look Behind You
Love Interest
Lover Tug of War Bob in the middle between Elvira and Patty.
Male Gaze
Marshmallow Hell
Meaningful Name: Chastity Pariah.
Mirror Scare
Moral Guardians: Chastity Pariah, Uncle Vincent, and the town council.
Neck Lift
Nightmare Sequence
Noodle Incident: What exactly Elvira did to that hitch-hiking axe murderer?
Ominous Fog
Really 700 Years Old
Red Eyes, Take Warning
Role Called
Screaming Woman
Shadow Discretion Shot
Shout Out
Spell Book
Stock Footage: It Conquered the World and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! come to mind.
Stuff Blowing Up: Elvira accidentally blows up a gas station on her way to Falwell.
Tar and Feathers: Elvira is tarred and feathered in a spoof of the movie Flashdance.
That Came Out Wrong: "Sure, I'll do it for 50 bucks!"
- "Well, here's to my big opening. I mean..."
There Is No Higher Court
There's No "B" in Movie
Title Drop
Total Eclipse of the Plot
Transformation Sequence: Gonk transforms itself from a punker poodle to a rat (and then a pit bull!) to chew through the ropes that had Elvira Bound and Gagged.
Unexpected Inheritance: The trope is applied twice. First, when Elvira got an inheritance from her Grand-Aunt, whose existence Elvira was completely oblivious to; and Second, when she inherited her Grand-Uncle's fortune. She had all reasons not to expect anything from him but, since she was his next of kin, and he never bothered with making a will, she inherited it all.
Unusual Euphemism
Vanity License Plate
Viva Las Vegas
What's a Henway?: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is a Hurricane of Puns, but one of the most memorable is after the titular character has gotten hit on the head with a falling movie marquee letter:
Bob: "How's your head?"
Elvira: "Well, I've never had any complaints..."